The Written Woman: How women used authorship in the 20th century to expose and conceal

The Written Woman aims to utilize Sylvia Plath's 1963 semi-autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, alongside women's diaries and other private writings as a foundation for discussing women and shame in the written world. Diaries are, for the most part, pieces of writing that are not meant for the public eye. As one writes a diary, there is an assumption of confidentiality. For this reason, diaries and other personal compositions deliver excellent insight into women's minds and lives in the 20th century, providing voices and stories without the pressure of public scrutiny. Diaries were women's friends and confidants. They allowed for an outlet of creativity and frustration that women experienced daily. They served as a counter-public sphere for women where the internalized surveillance of the male gaze and their own person can be reimagined. Auto fiction, like The Bell Jar, represents a finished product published for external view while remaining tied to the author's life. There is the act of both exposure and concealment. Auto fiction, to some degree, shows the cultural performance of shame while private works show the internalization of shame. I also look to my grandmother's writing as a personal example. As a life-long academic and mother, my grandmother held on to her writings, from her dissertation to small notes. I look at her life as an opening into how women in the 20th century used their pen. I would like to add to the academic discourse on women and shame using literary theory that bridges both fictional narratives and diaries. Novels and diaries, as living pieces of history, open up rich possibilities for examining how women articulate shame in both public and private literary spaces.